Note: Okay so your guesses were right. I have to make my readers happy some
of the time don't I even though I had been planning that plot twist since
the beginning. Thank you to Banksiesbabe99, crazy4nc128, Jennifer, C-chan96
and anne918 for your reviews.
Casey's POV:
After we ate dinner Gordon headed to the grocery store to pick up some things we needed. I did the dinner dishes quickly and then headed to our room to unpack some more of the stuff in there. I opened one box that had some old photo albums in them. Some were ones from when I was a kid that I had gotten when my mother had passed away five years ago. I closed the box and pushed it off to the side. I figured I might not even bother to unpack those. I opened the next box which had clothes in it. I started taking the clothes out and putting them away.
I was half-way through the box when I heard the front door open. I figured it was just Gordon coming back so I kept putting clothes away. I wanted to get done with this so that I could start my plans for the wedding. I still had no idea who to make my maid of honor. I was going to ask Julie and Connie to be brides maid but I didn't know either of them well enough for them to be my maid of honor.
"Mom, where are you at?" I heard Charlie call from downstairs. I was surprised. I had expected him to be here tonight. He usually stayed at the dorms most of the time anymore.
"I'm upstairs," I called back as I headed out of the hall and toward the stairs. "What's going on, Charlie?" I asked him as I walked downstairs. He was standing at the bottom of the steps. The girl Hawk I had met over the weekend was standing beside him. It took me a moment to remember her name but then it came to me - Alex.
"Nothing is wrong Mom," he said but I could tell he wasn't telling the whole truth. He was here on something other than just a social call. "Can we talk?" he asked me.
"Sure," I said and headed over to the armchair in the living room. Luckily I had finished unpacking the stuff downstairs although the place looked empty compared to what I was use to. Even moving to apartments worth of stuff into the house there still wasn't enough stuff to make the house look full. I figured we would change that shortly. "What do you want to talk about?" I asked as Charlie and Alex sat down on the couch.
I saw the two of them exchange glances. I couldn't help but wonder what was going on but I waited patiently. It was finally Alex who started talking.
"Um, I'm not sure how to say this," the girl started uncertainly. "Before she died my mother told me that she had adopted me. She didn't tell me who my birth parents were but we were going through some of her stuff today and I found some letters from the adoption agency. In one of the letters I found this," she said holding out a photograph to me.
My heart skipped a beat. I didn't need to look at the photo. I knew which one it was. I had lost track of how many nights I had fallen asleep thinking about the little girl who I had given up for adoption. Wondering what kind of person she had turned out to be. Knowing that I would probably never see her again and yet here she sat in my living room. The girl who a few days ago I didn't want at my house because she was a Hawk.
I glanced down at the picture I now had in my hands. It was only one of many I had of my first child. Even though I had only had her for four months I had never forgotten her. I had packed the pictures away though hiding them from everyone. The only one who knew about her was my mother. Everyone else I knew just assumed that Charlie was my first and only child. I had at one time thought about telling Charlie when he got to a certain age but then he had started longing to have a sibling and I just couldn't bring myself to tell him. How could I tell him that he did have an older sister but that more than likely he was never going to meet her.
"Why?" Alex asked me softly.
I looked up from the picture and looked at the two kids, my two kids sitting next to each other. Why had I never noticed the resemblance before. Both of them were looking at me and waiting for me to answer. I knew both of them wanted answers. Both of them deserved answers. My only fear was that they wouldn't understand.
"I was young at the time, still in highschool. It was right before the beginning of my senior year when I found out I was pregnant," I told her. "I couldn't bring myself to have an abortion so I decided to have the baby. My boyfriend wanted nothing to do with the child. He wanted me to have an abortion but I was bound and determined to have that baby. At first I was planning on keeping the baby but I soon realized that it wasn't going to work. Both of my parents worked and going to school and trying to raise a kid was too much. It was either dropping out of school or being a mother and I knew if I dropped out of highschool I wouldn't have a chance at provided for a child. I did graduate from high school and my boyfriend and I got married and not long after that I had Charlie."
"Then you didn't give me up for adoption because you didn't want me?" Alex said softly.
"Of course not, Alexandra" I said quickly. "I just wanted you to have what I couldn't provide for you at the time. I wanted you to be happy."
"I was," Alex told me. "My Mom and Dad both loved me very much and gave me everything I ever wanted. Could have ever needed until they died."
"I'm sorry to hear that," I told her honestly. "What happened?"
"My Dad was killed in a car accident a few years ago and my Mom died from cancer right before Christmas," she said softly. I could see the tears welling up in her eyes. I couldn't blame her. She had loss the only mother she had ever known. It had been easy on me when my mother died and I was much older than she was.
I stood up and stepped toward them. Charlie moved over to give me room and I sat down between them. "Well, if you want, you have a home here," I told her putting my arm around her shoulders. I had never in my wildest dreams thought I might have my first child back. After all I wasn't about to tear her away from the only life she had ever known but now that she was alone I knew I couldn't give her up again.
"I'd like that," Alex told me softly reaching up and wiping some tears away. I was holding back tears of my own.
"I'm so lucky to have two wonderful children," I said putting my arm around Charlie and pulling him close.
"Welcome to the family sis," Charlie said with a smile
"Its nice to be apart of a family," Alex replied.
The door opened and Gordon walked in with a couple of grocery bags. I could tell by the look on his face that the sight he saw before him was not what he had been expecting. It looked like I was going to have to explain everything again. Hopefully, he would take it as well as the children had seemed to.
Casey's POV:
After we ate dinner Gordon headed to the grocery store to pick up some things we needed. I did the dinner dishes quickly and then headed to our room to unpack some more of the stuff in there. I opened one box that had some old photo albums in them. Some were ones from when I was a kid that I had gotten when my mother had passed away five years ago. I closed the box and pushed it off to the side. I figured I might not even bother to unpack those. I opened the next box which had clothes in it. I started taking the clothes out and putting them away.
I was half-way through the box when I heard the front door open. I figured it was just Gordon coming back so I kept putting clothes away. I wanted to get done with this so that I could start my plans for the wedding. I still had no idea who to make my maid of honor. I was going to ask Julie and Connie to be brides maid but I didn't know either of them well enough for them to be my maid of honor.
"Mom, where are you at?" I heard Charlie call from downstairs. I was surprised. I had expected him to be here tonight. He usually stayed at the dorms most of the time anymore.
"I'm upstairs," I called back as I headed out of the hall and toward the stairs. "What's going on, Charlie?" I asked him as I walked downstairs. He was standing at the bottom of the steps. The girl Hawk I had met over the weekend was standing beside him. It took me a moment to remember her name but then it came to me - Alex.
"Nothing is wrong Mom," he said but I could tell he wasn't telling the whole truth. He was here on something other than just a social call. "Can we talk?" he asked me.
"Sure," I said and headed over to the armchair in the living room. Luckily I had finished unpacking the stuff downstairs although the place looked empty compared to what I was use to. Even moving to apartments worth of stuff into the house there still wasn't enough stuff to make the house look full. I figured we would change that shortly. "What do you want to talk about?" I asked as Charlie and Alex sat down on the couch.
I saw the two of them exchange glances. I couldn't help but wonder what was going on but I waited patiently. It was finally Alex who started talking.
"Um, I'm not sure how to say this," the girl started uncertainly. "Before she died my mother told me that she had adopted me. She didn't tell me who my birth parents were but we were going through some of her stuff today and I found some letters from the adoption agency. In one of the letters I found this," she said holding out a photograph to me.
My heart skipped a beat. I didn't need to look at the photo. I knew which one it was. I had lost track of how many nights I had fallen asleep thinking about the little girl who I had given up for adoption. Wondering what kind of person she had turned out to be. Knowing that I would probably never see her again and yet here she sat in my living room. The girl who a few days ago I didn't want at my house because she was a Hawk.
I glanced down at the picture I now had in my hands. It was only one of many I had of my first child. Even though I had only had her for four months I had never forgotten her. I had packed the pictures away though hiding them from everyone. The only one who knew about her was my mother. Everyone else I knew just assumed that Charlie was my first and only child. I had at one time thought about telling Charlie when he got to a certain age but then he had started longing to have a sibling and I just couldn't bring myself to tell him. How could I tell him that he did have an older sister but that more than likely he was never going to meet her.
"Why?" Alex asked me softly.
I looked up from the picture and looked at the two kids, my two kids sitting next to each other. Why had I never noticed the resemblance before. Both of them were looking at me and waiting for me to answer. I knew both of them wanted answers. Both of them deserved answers. My only fear was that they wouldn't understand.
"I was young at the time, still in highschool. It was right before the beginning of my senior year when I found out I was pregnant," I told her. "I couldn't bring myself to have an abortion so I decided to have the baby. My boyfriend wanted nothing to do with the child. He wanted me to have an abortion but I was bound and determined to have that baby. At first I was planning on keeping the baby but I soon realized that it wasn't going to work. Both of my parents worked and going to school and trying to raise a kid was too much. It was either dropping out of school or being a mother and I knew if I dropped out of highschool I wouldn't have a chance at provided for a child. I did graduate from high school and my boyfriend and I got married and not long after that I had Charlie."
"Then you didn't give me up for adoption because you didn't want me?" Alex said softly.
"Of course not, Alexandra" I said quickly. "I just wanted you to have what I couldn't provide for you at the time. I wanted you to be happy."
"I was," Alex told me. "My Mom and Dad both loved me very much and gave me everything I ever wanted. Could have ever needed until they died."
"I'm sorry to hear that," I told her honestly. "What happened?"
"My Dad was killed in a car accident a few years ago and my Mom died from cancer right before Christmas," she said softly. I could see the tears welling up in her eyes. I couldn't blame her. She had loss the only mother she had ever known. It had been easy on me when my mother died and I was much older than she was.
I stood up and stepped toward them. Charlie moved over to give me room and I sat down between them. "Well, if you want, you have a home here," I told her putting my arm around her shoulders. I had never in my wildest dreams thought I might have my first child back. After all I wasn't about to tear her away from the only life she had ever known but now that she was alone I knew I couldn't give her up again.
"I'd like that," Alex told me softly reaching up and wiping some tears away. I was holding back tears of my own.
"I'm so lucky to have two wonderful children," I said putting my arm around Charlie and pulling him close.
"Welcome to the family sis," Charlie said with a smile
"Its nice to be apart of a family," Alex replied.
The door opened and Gordon walked in with a couple of grocery bags. I could tell by the look on his face that the sight he saw before him was not what he had been expecting. It looked like I was going to have to explain everything again. Hopefully, he would take it as well as the children had seemed to.